Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Zerubbabel will successfully build the temple.

II. Photo
Zechariah has a vision: “He said to me, ‘What do you see?’ And I answered, ‘I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl above it.’” (v. 2a)

III. Select Verses
1: The angel who talked with me came back and woke me as a man is wakened from sleep.
2-3: He said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl above it. The lamps on it are seven in number, and the lamps above it have seven pipes; and by it are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and one on its left.”
6-7: Then he explained to me as follows: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit — said the LORD of Hosts. Whoever you are, O great mountain in the path of Zerubbabel, turn into level ground! For he shall produce that excellent stone; it shall be greeted with shouts of ‘Beautiful! Beautiful!’”
10b-14: “Those seven are the eyes of the LORD, ranging over the whole earth.” “And what,” I asked him, “are those two olive trees, one on the right and one on the left of the lampstand?”  And I further asked him, “What are the two tops of the olive trees that feed their gold through those two golden tubes?”  He asked me, “Don’t you know what they are?” And I replied, “No, my lord.” Then he explained, “They are the two anointed dignitaries who attend the Lord of all the earth.”

IV. Outline
1. Zechariah is woken
2-3. The seven branched lamp and the olive trees
4-6a. Introduction to the interpretation
6b-7. Oracle for Zerubbabel
8. Second Introduction
9-10a. Zerubbabel will succeed with God’s help
10b-14. The interpretation

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from http://theartblog.org/blog/wp-content/uploaded/bowl.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Zechariah sees Joshua the high priest standing before a divine council. God rebukes the Satan, promises to remove Israel’s guilt, and vows to bring peace to the land.

II. Photo
God will bring prosperity: “In that day — declares the Lord of Hosts — you will be inviting each other to the shade of vines and fig trees.” (v. 10)

III. Select Verses
1-2: He further showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Accuser standing at his right to accuse him. But the angel of the LORD said to the Accuser,“The LORD rebuke you, O Accuser; may the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! For this is a brand plucked from the fire.”
3-4: Now Joshua was clothed in filthy garments when he stood before the angel.  The latter spoke up and said to his attendants, “Take the filthy garments off him!” And he said to him, “See, I have removed your guilt from you, and you shall be clothed in [priestly] robes.”
6-7: And the angel of the LORD charged Joshua as follows:  “Thus said the LORD of Hosts: If you walk in My paths and keep My charge, you in turn will rule My House and guard My courts, and I will permit you to move about among these attendants.
10: In that day — declares the LORD of Hosts — you will be inviting each other to the shade of vines and fig trees.”

IV. Outline
1. Joshua stands with God’s angel and the Satan
2. God will reprimand the Satan
3-4. Joshua removes his filthy clothes and the interpretation
5. Joshua is given a headband
6-7. Joshua is told to follow God and promised a reward
8-9. Act and its interpretation
10. Future blessing

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from http://www.roomu.net/files/user2/parras.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Zechariah has visions and his angel relates their meaning. God promises to return to Jerusalem.

II. Photo
Zechariah has a vision: “I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. ‘Where are you going?’ I asked. ‘To measure Jerusalem,’ he replied, ‘to see how long and wide it is to be.’” (vv. 5-6)

III. Selected Verses
1-4: I looked up, and I saw four horns. I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are those?” “Those,” he replied, “are the horns that tossed Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” Then the LORD showed me four smiths.  “What are they coming to do?” I asked. He replied: “Those are the horns that tossed Judah, so that no man could raise his head; and these men have come to throw them into a panic, to hew down the horns of the nations that raise a horn against the land of Judah, to toss it.”
11-12: Away, escape, O Zion, you who dwell in Fair Babylon! For thus said the LORD of Hosts — He who sent me after glory — concerning the nations that have taken you as spoil: “Whoever touches you touches the pupil of his own eye.
14: Shout for joy, Fair Zion! For lo, I come; and I will dwell in your midst — declares the LORD.
16: The LORD will take Judah to Himself as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will choose Jerusalem once more.

IV. Outline

1-2. Vision of horns and the interpretation
3-4. Vision of artisans and the interpretation
5-9. Vision of a man measuring Jerusalem and its interpretation
10-14. Oracle
    10-11. Zion should return
    12-13. The punishers will be punished
    14. God will return to Zion
15a. The nations will return to God
15b. Recognition of God formula
16. God will return to Jerusalem
17. Awe of God

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from http://www.treklens.com/gallery/photo19154.htm

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God urges the people to return to him, Zechariah sees a man with supernatural horses, and an angel convinces God to rebuild the temple.

II. Photo
Zechariah has a night vision: “In the night, I had a vision. I saw a man, mounted on a bay horse, standing among the myrtles in the deep.” (v. 8a)

III. Selected Verses
1: In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, this word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo.
3b-4: Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Turn back to me — says the LORD of Hosts — and I will turn back to you — said the LORD of Hosts. Do not be like your fathers! For when the earlier prophets called to them, “Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Come, turn back from your evil ways and your evil deeds, they did not obey or give heed to Me — declares the LORD.
12-13: Thereupon the angel of the LORD exclaimed, “O LORD of Hosts! How long will You withhold pardon from Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, which You placed under a curse seventy years ago?” The LORD replied with kind, comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
16-17: Assuredly, thus said the LORD: I graciously return to Jerusalem. My House shall be built in her — declares the LORD of Hosts — the measuring line is being applied to Jerusalem. Proclaim further: Thus said the LORD of Hosts: My towns shall yet overflow with bounty. For the LORD will again comfort Zion; He will choose Jerusalem again.”

IV. Outline

1-6. Oracle
    1. Superscription
    2. God’s anger at the fathers
    3-6. Plea for the people to return to God, unlike their fathers
7-17. Vision report
    7. Superscription
    8-11. A man with horses that roam the earth
    12. An angel petitions God about Jerusalem
    13. God comforts the angel
    14-15. Oracle: God is angry for Jerusalem
    16-17. God will rebuild the temple and Jerusalem

V. Comment
The book of Zechariah can be broken into two units, chapters 1-8 and 9-14, and some scholars call these sections First and Second Zechariah. While little is known about the man Zechariah, we are told that he prophesied during the second year of Darius (=520 BCE). This is corroborated by the book of Ezra: “Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem, inspired by the God of Israel.” (Ezra 5:1) Similarly, Ezra 6:14-15 says: “So the elders of the Jews progressed in the building, urged on by the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo, and they brought the building to completion under the aegis of the God of Israel and by the order of Cyrus and Darius and King Artaxerxes of Persia. The house was finished on the third of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.”

Chapter 1 begins with an oracle asking the people to return to God, and concludes with a vision report. Zechariah, who is accompanied by an angel, sees a man with horses who travel around world. Collins notes that Zechariah, who prophesied at the beginning of the Persian period, can be viewed as a “link” between the early prophets and the apocalyptic writers of the late and post biblical periods: “These visions are innovative in another respect: they are interpreted for the prophet by an angel (who is often called ‘the interpreting angel or angelus interpres in modern scholarship). There is some precedent for this kind of vision in the book of Amos, where the Lord asks Amos what he sees and then explains it to him (e.g., Amos 8:1-2, where a basket of summer fruit symbolizes the ‘end’ that is coming on Israel). Zechariah visions are more elaborate than those of Amos, but less elaborate than what we will find in the later apocalyptic visions of the book of Daniel. It may be significant that symbolic visions of this kind are also known in Persian tradition.  (In the Bahman Yasht, Zoroaster sees a tree with metal branches, which is explained to hum by the god Ahura Mazda.) It is possible that Zechariah’s visions reflect Persian influence, but the point cannot be proven. In any case, the introduction of the interpreting angel is a significant innovation in the Hebrew prophetic tradition. With respect to their literary form the visions of Zechariah may be said to mark a transitional stage between the visions of the older prophets and the later apocalyptic writers.” (405)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Photo taken from http://ucp.totfarm.com/pics/pic_11922174902222.jpg